This is the [link href='http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/why-donald-trump-is-skipping-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner' 0='data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link"' link_updater_label='external' target='_blank']first time in 36 years a President hasn't attended

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Ronald Reagan "had been shot just a few weeks earlier, and was recuperating at Camp David. But he still managed to speak at the ceremony via telephone." So did Trump have an important reason for not being there?

As has been well documented, Trump was at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to celebrate the first 100 days of his presidency. He used the rally to insult the media and, according to Variety, he told the crowd, "I could not be more thrilled to be more than 100 miles away … with a much larger crowd and much, much better people."

Looking forward to RALLY in the Great State of Pennsylvania tonight at 7:30. Big crowd, big energy!

The New Yorker speculated that Trump's "refusal to appear may also be a matter of personal vanity." His decision to miss this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner might be out of character for a President, but that's why it's completely in character for Trump.